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This is a breathe of fresh air compared to the foil covered madness we’re all use to seeing. 2012 Golden Age looks to me like a mixture of Allen & Ginter and American Heritage. Its probably closer to American Heritage than anything, except Golden Age has a lot more baseball figures in it.

Panini really impressed me with the Historic Signatures. They look fantastic! Simplicity is always better. They should make their other licensed products look like this.

The rarest tobacco minis you’ll find are the black ones. The ornate knight on the back is a nice touch. I like it when manufacturers change up their logo for certain products.

Price:

Boxes are currently selling for $72.00.

“Hit” Quality:

This product is made for set collectors. Collectors looking for multi-colored patches or autographs of the newest rookies will be disappointed. Set collectors on the other hand will have a ball. Some of the bigger “hits” include the cut signatures, Secretariat saddle relic, and the original cards from the 30’s and 40’s Panini threw in.

I pulled the following:

Auto

John “Blue Moon” Odom Historic Signatures

Relic

Russell Johnson Museum Age Shirt – played the “Professor” on Gilligan’s Island

Ferguson Bakery Yellow Pennant

Battling Nelson #5

Batter-Up

Brooks Robinson #19

Babe Didrikson Zaharias #11

Headlines

Truman Defeats Dewey #5

Fischer Hooks Chess #9

Newark Evening World Supplement

Red Grange #6

Mini Tobacco Parallels

Russell Johnson Ty Cobb Tobacco #145

Theodore Roosevelt Candy Croft and Allen Co. Red #4

Cleon Jones Candy Croft and Allen Co. Red #144

Tony Perez Candy Croft and Allen Co. Red #119

Jack Johnson Broad Leaf Cigarettes Blue #3

Warren Spahn Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #79

Ralph Kiner Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #46

Moe Howard Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #54

John “Blue Moon” Odom Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #128

John F. Kennedy Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #77

Bob Feller Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #64

Richard Petty Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #93

Joe Jackson Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #9

W.K. Kellogg Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #8

Bob Gibson Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #102

Larry Fine Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #55

Red Grange Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #33

Dawn Wells Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #146

Russell Johnson Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #145

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #131

Eddie Collins Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #17

Walter Hagen Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #25

Tony Perez Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #119

Tony Kubek Broad Leaf Cigarettes Brown #73

Overall:

Overall, I give 2012 Golden Age 4 baseballs out of 5 (1=poor & 5=perfect). I believe Panini is getting the idea on how to create nice looking non-licensed MLB products for set collectors. High-end is another story. Its made with sturdy, vintage feeling card stock, on-card autographs, and it got me wanting to read the backs. Golden Age doesn’t take the most unique approach that needs to be taken when making a non-licensed MLB product, but it came out well.